Self Improvement

Category: Self Improvement

Compared to the way things were in the past, humans find that the constant evolution of their needs and the change in environmental conditions as well as economic situations has made it less easy to avoid stressful situations.

Nowadays, from corporate jobs that demand a high grueling schedule to the simple activity of going to the supermarket, all this lead to tense occurrences that make the human body wound up. For most people, the approach to not getting stressed is by avoiding these situations entirely but this is real life and no situation can be completely avoided unless you intend to live in isolation.

Producing Videos: A Relaxing Hobby

The best way to deal with stressful situations or actions that amount to a tensed state of mind is by counteracting the effects of these things. A suggested method is to pick up an activity or hobby that either assist in creating a balance of emotions through its meditative nature or engage in something that promotes zen.

If you still do not understand, then in simple words, there will be no need to avoid or worry about tensed situations and occurrences if you are able to channel your inner emotions to attain a semblance of balance and clarity. Activities and hobbies that offer this must be meditative in nature or possess zen-like qualities. Note that the word “zen” is the Japanese form of Buddhism that places emphasis on meditation.

Videos & a Zen State of Mind

There are probably several hobbies or activities out there that could produce the state of zen you desire but one prominent one is video production. For some individuals, video production is a profession while for others, it is simply an interest they engage in from time to time. As for you, the individual seeking a medium by which to relieve stress, the act of video production comes in handy and here is how:

•Video production involves a lot of stages and processes which require detail to attention. If you require something that drives your focus away from life’s worries then this is the way to go as you find yourself directing your focus at making all the processes work right rather than on other things.

• Video production requires you to be able to maintain control over your actions, mental faculties as well as your emotions. This is due to the fact that different things in the process of video production do not allow for emotional interference as it requires your mind to be clear and aware of situations so as to improve reaction times. You might find that in the production stage of video production, there is a scene that needs to be captured the way it is at the moment and your actions have to react swiftly to that.

The above are ways by which video production passes for a zen activity due to the fact that meditation itself is a way by which individuals attain peace of mind. Video production can be the channel through which the zen state can be achieved.

The brain is the most important organ of the human body. Without the brain, most human bodily functions would be difficult to carry out and this is due to the fact that the brain emits waves that dictate what the boy should do. The brainwaves emitted by the brain can be beneficial in several ways and normal everyday activities bring about these helpful waves. Going by the fact that this waves can occur in different aspects of life, the focus would be on how these brain waves manifest themselves in video production to make it a meditative hobby.

Brain Waves & Relaxation

The first brain wave to be viewed is the gamma wave, which produces the waves with the highest frequency. What this brain wave does is to help improve creativity, learning and overall perception which are tools needed for video production. It should be noted that meditation is an act that helps to create balance and relieve stress in the life of individuals.

When stress is no longer a thing of worry in an individual’s life, then the overall perception of various situations gets to increase and they become more open to certain things. Video production is certainly a hobby that can guarantee that as the gamma waves in the human body help trigger creativity and overall perception.

Producing Videos Soothing Effect

You find that when in the act of producing videos, less attention is paid on worrisome situations that are the root cause of stress in the body and focus is placed on the different tasks needed to make the act of video production possible. This indicates that as you learn to focus your energies elsewhere, the gamma brain waves would have sent strong indications to the body to let go of all worries and stress thereby creating a steady balance of feelings. Going by the fact that video production ignites the gamma waves and the gamma waves are produced from meditation, then it is safe to say that producing videos is a meditative hobby.

Meditation Through Creative Outlets

Another brain wave that aids the production of videos as a meditative hobby is the beta wave. This wave is regarded as the normal pattern whose domain stretches across emotional control, alertness, concentration and active perception.

All the aforementioned are clear indications of what meditation helps individuals to achieve. Video production is one hobby that makes use of concentration and requires awareness of one’s surroundings to be able to function at full capacity. Lack of attention to certain parts of the video production process can lead to a less than stellar final output.

Once concentration and active perception are achieved, things like maintaining control over one’s emotions become easy. Most people meditate in the hopes of achieving this but an activity that encourages the exercise of control and concentration is the hobby of video production.

Video production creates the beta wave and the beta wave in turn as a major part to play in acts of meditation. So if you want to attain balance and control in your life, then producing videos as a meditative hobby is the way to go.

People meditate for a number of reasons: for relaxation, finding and opening your center, self-healing, creative visualization, being connected to your higher self, etc. Meditation can intimidate a lot of people because it requires silencing the chatter in our minds and they may think that this practice takes years to achieve. While this may be true on one hand, on the other, by committing to training our body and mind to focus on a specific intent on a regular basis — basic and simple meditation can easily be learned.

If you ask successful people what is the first thing they do in the morning most will say exercise. Out of the ones that say exercise, a handful will also say meditate. These tend to be the most successful ones out of the bunch. By taking 10-20 minutes to meditate in the morning, you are enabling yourself to clear your mind and be a more productive and efficient human being throughout the day.

A meditative state can be substantially enhanced by gems and crystals especially quartz since they are superconductors of energy. Amplify the energy that you channel through the use of crystals and learn meditation a little bit easier.

Why use crystals in meditation

All crystals have energetic properties in them. Transferred energy through crystals can help raise consciousness and awareness when meditating. It can help aid in deepening your understanding of why and how things around us are and bring superior clarity to the mind when practiced on a spiritual level with a spiritual intent.

Using healing crystals is also one of the practices of meditating with crystals as crystals could provide a higher resonance of vibrations that can help in the healing processes. This practice is said to even overcome a phobia by a combination of inner work and clearing the chakras using crystals.

How to meditate with crystals

Now that we have established why crystals are used in meditation, it’s time to find out how we can incorporate it in our meditation rituals.

Simply hold a crystal or try surrounding yourself with small crystals making sure that there are three or more to circle your meditating spot with. Other ways are meditating with a crystal in each hand, it could be two crystals each hand depending on you. Another way is to sit comfortably and hold your crystal in one hand sitting on your lap and the other empty hand on top of it. Others lay the crystals on their body so that it touches the skin.

A simple daily meditation can be done in a quiet, comfortable space. Sit and close your eyes as you let your mind focus on your affirmations/ intent, while breathing steadily. Imagine your energy, the chakra flowing from your body to the stone and let it overwhelm the senses. Visualize your intention while relaxing your mind. When you’re done, open your eyes and take few deep breaths.

Best Crystals for Meditation

While there is no right or wrong crystals to be used in meditation, knowing each crystal’s intrinsic characteristics can help you tremendously.

Choose crystals that represent what you would like to bring into your meditation. Some consider selecting the right crystals a lot of work, factoring in the color ray of influence, earth power derived from its compound, crystal energy lattice. But the crystal you choose to meditate with can easily representative of your intent.

Some of the calming stones are considered to be blue stones such as aquamarine, turquoise, lapis lazuli and kyanite. These can help clear the mind and calm the body.

Amethyst and fluorite are purple crystals that can help reach a higher state of consciousness. White crystals like quartz crystal and selenite, Himalayan and Tibetan crystals can also serve the same purpose. Quartz crystals are one of the best crystals to be used in meditation because of its ability to be programmed depending on your intent.

Jade can bring serenity, soothe the mind to release negative thoughts. Carnelian clears unwanted thoughts in meditation which helps you focus your mind on a much higher level.

Dumortierite can activate the third eye— this may sound advanced but using it can increase your meditative state by enhancing your mental discipline.

Anna* was an old friend of mine. We had met during admin week at our college when we both realized we were in the wrong auditorium. She was a bubbly brunette who’s contagious laugh made everyone smile. After college, she moved to New York City and started working at an amazing financial firm. However, through all the stress of work, 50 hour work weeks, she began to gain weight. She was also in a very unhealthy relationship where her partner was verbally abusive and would put her down. It got to the point where she began to underperform and was given a stern warning that if she didn’t get her act together they would not sponsor her to get her MBA.

I coincidentally was visiting New York during that time and had reached out to Anna as she was the only person I knew in NY at the time. We got lunch the week she got her warning. We hadn’t even gotten through our appetizers when Anna began to reveal all her troubles to me. The moment I saw her I knew something was off, but I didn’t know the extent of it. The more she revealed the more I wanted to help.

get-in-touch-self-improvement-to-personal-developmentWe quickly got through lunch and we headed back to my hotel (it was a Saturday). It took a few hours before we were able to lay out a plan for her. We knew she had to get rid of the abusive boyfriend, so I extended my trip to help her move out of his place. She knew she had to take care of her body. As a result of the weight gain she was more sluggish, didn’t feel as sharp or attentive as before, and it had also affected her confidence.